Airplane painting problem

[AdamZ]

A fellow who owns a plane I plane to take some advanced training in has had the plane in the paint shop for four months. The paint shop gave him a good price and estimated the plane would be back in about a month.
The Paint shop now tells him gee your plane had three coats of paint and its Dupont Imron paint and the chemical stripper won't work so we have to use a wire brush. The shop told him a month ago he'd have the plane at the end of April. Now they keep pushing it back. The shop keeps lamenting how the employees quit and they are back up.
The owner is understandably concerned. I suggested he fly out to the paint shop unannounced and pay a visit to find out what's up?
Having ZERO experience or knowledge about this stuff he and I are both wondering if the paint shop is yanking his chain. We are researching Dupont Imron paint to see if the shops claim about them not being able to get the paint off is valid. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this situation unusual? FWIW the plane is a PA-32

 

[Whirlwind]

Sheesh... I don't know much about painting airplanes, other than it shouldn't take 4 months to strip, prep, and paint a PA-32...

I agree that an unannounced visit is called for at this point, and if that doesn't go well, a call to a lawyer...

 

[tom clark]

I agree Mike. I am no expert obviously, but thought I'd read that the steel wire particles become imbedded in the aluminum and can cause corrosion. Maybe alodining(sp?) stops that? Not sure. But after 4 months I'd say these folks have no clue. I am fighting my own problem with an inept paint shop. 2yrs ago my cherokee was stripped and painted and now I am getting some corrosion around just about every ss screw, antenna and just a little appearing along some seams. We are systematically removing, priming and touching it up. Apparently they weren't good about getting all the stripper out of every crack and crevasse. I called the shop to gripe and there was no answer. I know their hangar was wiped out by a hurricane. Pre-paint, I just had an ugly but corrosion-free plane. Now $8k later I have a plane loaded with corrosion and no clue how deep the problem goes. This may be the beginning, or the end. Not sure. Point is, be careful who you get working on your plane. I thought I did my homework and I still got bit on the butt! tc

 

[Tom-D]

Don't think a wire brush is a good idea. As I understand aircraft aluminum sheet metal, the sheet alloy gets a very thin coating of pure aluminum at the end of the manufacturing process. Once something (a wire brush) breaks the integrity of the pure aluminum, corrosion more easily sets in. If I am wrong on this, please let me know. -- Mike

Yes it is called AlClading, it is a .010" thick layer of Pure aluminum over the alloy below. Wire Brush? well some times, but not the one you would use on your BBQ grill. They are called PLATERS brushes, they looks like a wooden handled tooth brush with very fine brissels of Stainless steel.

 

[Tom-D]

A fellow who owns a plane I plane to take some advanced training in has had the plane in the paint shop for four months. The paint shop gave him a good price and estimated the plane would be back in about a month.
The Paint shop now tells him gee your plane had three coats of paint and its Dupont Imron paint and the chemical stripper won't work so we have to use a wire brush. The shop told him a month ago he'd have the plane at the end of April. Now they keep pushing it back. The shop keeps lamenting how the employees quit and they are back up.
The owner is understandably concerned. I suggested he fly out to the paint shop unannounced and pay a visit to find out what's up?
Having ZERO experience or knowledge about this stuff he and I are both wondering if the paint shop is yanking his chain. We are researching Dupont Imron paint to see if the shops claim about them not being able to get the paint off is valid. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this situation unusual? FWIW the plane is a PA-32

Imron strips easy as any paint. 4 months? wow some one got a low priority.

 

[Gary]

We are researching Dupont Imron paint to see if the shops claim about them not being able to get the paint off is valid. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this situation unusual? FWIW the plane is a PA-32

Imron can be chemically stripped as easy as any other paint, particularily if the older methylene chloride strippers are used. Unfortuately methylene chloride has a nasty property of being a neurotoxin if inhaled or absorbed through the skin so proper safety equipment and good ventilation is a must. The "newer" environmentally friendly strippers are usually hydroxide and surfactant based. They work, just not as fast or as well. Something sounds fishy if they say they can't strip the paint.

Gary

 

[Michael]

I am about to go through this same thing. Good thing my mooney partner owns a paint shop.

here is a small step by step guide on how this mooney got painted.
http://www.mooneymoments.com/aeropaint.htm

Michael

 

[Stache]

I have stripped a few aircraft and repainted a few in my day. Yes, they are hanking your chain big time. It should take 2-3 weeks tops for a complete strip and repait. Using a wire brush is not good and may/will cause problems later. I would suggest taking your camera and stop in and take lots of pictures. I assume you signed a contract with them before any work was started. If not you may want to consult a aviation lawyer and discuss your options before going any futher.

Stache

 

[Henning]

A fellow who owns a plane I plane to take some advanced training in has had the plane in the paint shop for four months. The paint shop gave him a good price and estimated the plane would be back in about a month.
The Paint shop now tells him gee your plane had three coats of paint and its Dupont Imron paint and the chemical stripper won't work so we have to use a wire brush. The shop told him a month ago he'd have the plane at the end of April. Now they keep pushing it back. The shop keeps lamenting how the employees quit and they are back up.
The owner is understandably concerned. I suggested he fly out to the paint shop unannounced and pay a visit to find out what's up?
Having ZERO experience or knowledge about this stuff he and I are both wondering if the paint shop is yanking his chain. We are researching Dupont Imron paint to see if the shops claim about them not being able to get the paint off is valid. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this situation unusual? FWIW the plane is a PA-32

Ahhhhhemmm....Bullsh!t.... Plenty of strippers remove Imron. I used to use Eldorado, cheap and effective. Aircraft Stripper (brand name) is a bit more expensive but widely available at any autobody supply shop. Take a gallon to the shop and try it out. Sometimes you have to hit it twice or three times, but no real problems. Sounds more to me like he's got money problems and can't afford to hire help. NO ONE strips paint off of sheet aluminum with wire wheels, you distort and gouge the metal. If he is in fact stripping the plane with wire wheels, he's potentially ruining the aircraft. Hit it with stripper twice, clear the large surfaces with a DA, and take a sandblasting rig with some of the new foamys or even better a UHP (ultra high pressure, 10,000+psi) pressure washer to do the rivet lines, joints and other hard to reach areas (have to be careful with the UHP washer).

 

[Keith Lane]

A fellow who owns a plane I plane to take some advanced training in has had the plane in the paint shop for four months. The paint shop gave him a good price and estimated the plane would be back in about a month.
The Paint shop now tells him gee your plane had three coats of paint and its Dupont Imron paint and the chemical stripper won't work so we have to use a wire brush. The shop told him a month ago he'd have the plane at the end of April. Now they keep pushing it back. The shop keeps lamenting how the employees quit and they are back up.
The owner is understandably concerned. I suggested he fly out to the paint shop unannounced and pay a visit to find out what's up?
Having ZERO experience or knowledge about this stuff he and I are both wondering if the paint shop is yanking his chain. We are researching Dupont Imron paint to see if the shops claim about them not being able to get the paint off is valid. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this situation unusual? FWIW the plane is a PA-32

I'd be interested to know if the painter's last name is Zust. I knew an aircraft painter who sounds just like this. Only he had stripped two planes quite successfully the day before he walked away from his shop owing everybody in town a LOT of $$$$$. Turns out even the gas company had turned off his gas 4 months earlier. He had been painting in an unheated hangar most of the winter. Wonder just how well thwat paint adhered to the aluminum.